BLACK CRANE: “From the crane, we learn grace and self control”. This, the second of the styles of the Shaolin, traces its ancestry back to the time of Dr. Hua T’o during the Han dynasty. This physician developed a series of exercises for improving health by imitating animal motions, among which was a bird. Black crane, as it has evolved today, constitutes the hand sets of the Shaolin crane. As such, it provides a short range style of boxing useful to tall boxers. Its complement was to include throws and locks but delete intricate forms so that it could be studied by the general populace or military personnel. Legend has it that an old man was watching a battle between an ape and a crane one day and marvelled at the bird’s ability to evade the ape and still connnect with telling blows of its own. He meditated daily on this conflict and one day, when attacked by bandits, defeated them by using the moves of the crane. Thus was a new system born. History tells us that the movements were a collation of the ancient bird style, some tiger and the motion of snake. Because the exercises were intended to teach character and spirit, the style inherited the stork stance long before white crane itself was introduced into China.
Is this from Shaolin.com? That’s the only place I’ve ever heard of it.
“Weapons are the embodiments of fear,
the wise use them only when they have no choice”
Lao Tzu